Imaging system and method

ABSTRACT

There are described herein systems and methods for producing and distributing personalized photographic souvenirs for spectators of an event. Equipment well-known in the art is used to take photographs of performers at the event, and to scan images or take photos of items representative of the event, for example a ticket stub, advertisement, or team names and logos. In addition, at least one pan-and-tilt camera system, also well-known in the art, is used to take an orderly, indexed series of photos of the spectators such that substantially every spectator will appear in at least one spectator photo. The spectator photos are indexed according to a predetermined mapping algorithm, which maps a particular location of the venue to a virtual sector. Individual souvenirs are then created at the venue in a centralized processing location, by organizing and combining a spectator photo with the other photos and/or scanned images. The souvenirs are then distributed to vendors who then present them to spectators in the sector or sectors from where the spectator photo was taken. The souvenirs may also be available to the spectator from the centralized processing location.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/456,689, filed Jul. 11, 2006 (co-pending), which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/791,625, filed Mar. 1, 2004, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,077,581, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/231,654, filed Aug. 29, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No.6,698,943, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/955,484 filed Oct. 22, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,345, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/607,582,filed Feb. 27, 1996 now abandoned. Priority to the above-mentioned priorapplications is hereby expressly claimed, and the disclosures of theabove-mentioned prior applications are each hereby incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to photography, and more particularlyto systems and methods for producing and distributing personalizedphotographic souvenirs for spectators of an event.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Observing live action events such as sports games, concerts,conventions, rallies, plays, and the like, is a major pastime. Manyspectators attending these events consider them to be memorable and assuch the spectators often take photographs of the events. Unfortunately,these photographs typically show only the action and not the spectator,or only the spectator and not the action. This results in obtaining asouvenir that for all practical purposes is no different thancommercially available pictures and trading cards, or published photosof the event in magazines and newspapers. In addition, many spectatorssimply do not take photos at all, due to difficulty in carrying thenecessary equipment, accessing a suitable photo-taking location at thevenue, lack of suitable zoom lenses, prohibition by the venue owners,etc.

Since attending live events is usually a source of pride and joy, whichmany people want to share with relatives and friends, it would bedesirable for a spectator to have a personalized souvenir that indicatespositively that the spectator did indeed attend the event.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of apersonalized souvenir for a spectator at a live event.

Another object is to use photographs and/or scanned images of performersat the live event, photographs and/or scanned images of itemsrepresentative of the event (e.g. a ticket stub, advertisement, or teamnames and logos), and photos of the spectators, to form the personalizedsouvenir.

Another object is to provide methods of obtaining the necessaryphotographs and/or scanned images and preparing the souvenirs such thatthe souvenirs can be distributed to spectators during or soon after thelive event, at or near the site of the live event.

These and other objects are accomplished by the creation of personalizedsouvenirs which include real life photos, including photos of thespectators, to create an effect on the spectators known as“telepresence.” That is, the spectators at a later time will typicallybe able to recall the event in a more realistic sense than if theylooked at other souvenirs or photos which did not include photos ofthemselves combined with photos and memorabilia from the live event.

The systems and methods of the present invention use at least onepan-and-tilt camera system located at the event which takes an orderly,indexed series of photos of the spectators preferably soon after thestart of the event, such that substantially every spectator will appearin at least one spectator photo. The spectator photos are indexedaccording to a predetermined mapping algorithm which maps a particularlocation of the event venue to a virtual sector (so called because thesector boundaries may not necessarily correspond to physical sections atthe venue). Individual souvenirs are then created at a centralizedsouvenir assembly site, by organizing and combining a spectator photowith the other photos and/or scanned images. The souvenirs are thendistributed to vendors who then present them to spectators in the sectoror sectors from where the spectator photo was taken. The souvenirs mayalso be available to spectators from the centralized assembly site.Truly personalized souvenirs of attendance at the event are thusprovided for large numbers of spectators, who may obtain thepersonalized souvenirs in a relatively quick and easy manner while stillat the event venue.

Other objects of the present invention will be apparent from thedetailed description which follows, when read in conjunction with thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a typical venue of a live event (a basketball game)illustrating a pan-and-tilt camera system attached to the scoreboardabove the center of the court.

FIG. 2 shows a typical pan-and-tilt camera system used in conjunctionwith the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a typical remote control unit for controlling thepan-and-tilt camera system.

FIG. 4 is a flow-chart showing how the photos and other images arerouted to a central system server and then downloaded to workstationswhere they are manipulated and combined to form the finished products,which are then distributed.

FIG. 5 is a copy of an actual photograph taken during an experiment withthe systems and methods of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a sample layout of a personalized photo souvenir of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a basketball court 2, during a basketball game, withplayers 4 on the court 2. Spectators 6 are seated in the stands in ausual manner throughout the venue. A pan and tilt camera system 8,well-known in the art, is attached to and positioned under thescoreboard 10. Due to the design of typical gymnasiums, this location ofthe camera system 8 is preferred as it is in essentially the center ofthe court 2, and therefore would typically be capable of taking photosof substantially all of the spectator seats without being obstructed.For other venues where such a placement is not available, the camerasystem 8 may be placed at other suitable locations, and/or there may bemore than one camera system 8 to enable coverage of substantially all ofthe spectators. For example, at a football game, the camera system 8 orsystems may be placed on the goalposts, or attached to various strategiclocations in the grandstands. At a baseball field the camera system 8 orsystems may be attached to the foul poles, the fences, the home-runwall, etc. At a race track the camera system 8 or systems may be mountedto the guardrails, or stationed in the center of the track. These andother venues may require the camera system 8 or systems to be mobile.For example, on golf courses the camera system 8 or systems could bemounted to mobile units, or hand-carried. Alternatively, the camerasystem 8 or systems may be located in a tethered balloon, low-flyinglow-speed aircraft, a blimp, a helicopter, radio-controlledhang-gliders, etc. In addition, the camera system 8 or systems may bemounted directly to structures as described, or they may be mounted totelescopic brackets which in turn are mounted to the structures. Theimportant feature of the location of the camera system 8 or systems isthat they are capable of taking photographs of substantially all of thespectators at an event. In addition, the location of the cameras, theviewing angle, the lens aperture, the exposure time, the film speed andthe type of lenses are selected carefully in accordance with usual goodphotographic techniques in order to account for variations in lightamong the spectators and the stage or playing field, the amount ofmotion and the speed of motion in the live action and among thespectators, the distance between the camera and the stage or the playingfield, and the distance between the camera and the spectators.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a typical pan-and-tilt camera system 8 usedin conjunction with the present invention. The camera system 8 includesa camera 12 mounted to a camera support 14 which in turn may be mountedto a physical structure such as a goalpost or grandstand as previouslydescribed. The camera 12 has the ability to pan and tilt, as indicatedby arrows 16 a and 16 b respectively, thus allowing the camera 12 tocapture images of surroundings at 360° horizontally and up to 90°vertically. The camera system 8 also includes a motion control motor 18and an R.F. control box 20 with an antenna 22, so that the system 8 maybe controlled by an R.F. remote control unit 24 as shown in FIG. 3. Thecamera system 8 and the control unit 24 shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3respectively illustrate typical hardware well-known in the art, forexample the camera system 8 may include a Sony DKC ST5 with flashtrigger and/or spot-lighting capability, mounted on a cable-driven NSmicrowave model CD-20 mast with quickset QPT-90 pan and tilt, but it isunderstood that other camera systems and control units well-known in theart may be used without departing from the concepts of the presentinvention. Computer software drives the camera system 8 as will bediscussed shortly.

The camera system 8 or systems may be operated manually or by remotecontrol which is operated either manually or is driven by computersoftware. This includes panning, tilting, raising, lowering, zooming,and actual photo taking. If artificial light is needed, such lightingmay be provided by strobe lighting systems pre-installed at the venue,flash units, high intensity spot light projectors, or any other suitablemeans. Such lighting devices may be hand-held and manually operated, oroperated by remote control, or even computer driven. They can be mountedpermanently, carried by operators, mounted onto the same brackets as thecamera 12 or cameras, or mounted onto separate brackets. It is desirablethat whatever the arrangement, the lighting over an entire sector beingphotographed should be as even as possible.

The equipment previously described, in conjunction with other hardwareand software to be described herein, is used in accordance with thepresent invention to produce personalized souvenirs for spectators atlive events. Turning to FIG. 4, it can be seen that photo and image datafrom multiple sources (at steps 400 a, 400 b, and 400 c) are sent to acentral computer server, then distributed to various workstations wherethe data is manipulated, printed, and combined to form the finishedproducts—personalized souvenirs. The central server is any computerwell-known in the art capable of processing large amounts of data, forexample a Macintosh Apple Power PC with at least 120 to 180 megabytes ofRAM, running TEPS-1000 software.

The various photos and images at steps 400 a, 400 b, and 400 c aregathered independently of each other, and may therefore be gathered atthe same time. At step 400 a, one or more photographers takesphotographs of the performers (athletes, singers, actors, etc.) in ausual manner during the course of the event, preferably near the startof the event to allow enough time for processing the photos and creatingand distributing the souvenirs. A digital camera, such as a Fuji DS-300well-known in the art, is preferred, so that the images captured can betransmitted at step 402 to the central server after a photograph orgroup of photographs is taken. The images may be transported to thecentral server by a disc or cartridge, or transmitted via cable, wire,radio, infrared, or satellite, or any other means. If the camera orcameras used to take the photographs at step 400 a are traditionalanalog type cameras, then instead of transferring the captured images toa computer server, the captured images are transported at step 403 inthe form of undeveloped film to a film processing laboratory where theymay then be scanned into the central server, or delivered as developedimages to the souvenir assembly site.

At step 400 b, photos are taken of admission tickets, event ads, teamlogos, names, predetermined slogans (e.g., “I was there!”), and/or otherpredetermined items indicative of the event, or said items may bescanned into a computer memory or permanent storage device. Otherpossible items or slogans include: a border of some appealing design tomatch the theme of the event; the time and/or the date of the event; thelocation where the event took place; an enlarged photo-within-the-photoso that a selected spectator or group of spectators can be seen moreclearly; an arrow or a similar indicator connecting the actual spectatorlocation in the photograph to the photo-within-the photo; a “halo” orsimilar indicator around the actual spectator location in the photographto enable the viewer to locate the spectator more quickly; or even thename of the spectator. This will increase the informational content andhence increase the telepresence effect of the entire moment at a laterdate.

If cameras are used to capture these images, a digital camera such asthe Fuji DS-300 may be used. If the images are scanned, scannerswell-known in the art, for example a high resolution Hewlett Packard HP4 Scanjet 4P, may be used. These images are then transported at step 404to the central server by a disc or cartridge, or transmitted via cable,wire, radio, infrared, or satellite, or any other means, similar to step402.

Still referring to FIG. 4, and turning now to step 400 c, clear,in-focus photographs are taken of substantially all of the area of thevenue designed for spectators. Using the equipment described inconjunction with FIGS. 1 3, the camera system 8 or systems arecontrolled by computer software in which the venue has been mapped intopredetermined sectors. The sectors may be based on physical boundarieswithin the venue, the characteristics of the camera system 8 or systems,such as shutter speeds, focal lengths, etc., or any other factors, butthe ultimate goal is to define an area as a sector so that a singlephotograph may be taken of the sector which includes clear, in-focusviews of substantially all spectators in that sector.

The determination of how big an area constitutes a single sector willusually require on site calibration and testing of the equipment priorto the event. At a particular venue, however, once the system iscalibrated and the sectors are mapped out, the settings will usually beaccurate for future events. Once the venue has been mapped into thesevirtual sectors, such a mapping is programmed into software that is usedto control the camera system 8 or systems. For venues that provideseating, a sector will typically contain from fifty to one thousandseats. For example, FIG. 5 is a copy of an actual photograph taken at amajor sports venue during experimentation with the system and methods ofthe present invention. At this venue, it was determined that a sectorcorresponded to an actual physical section of the venue, section 208.

Referring back to FIG. 4, it is desirable for the camera system 8 orsystems to take photos of substantially all of the spectators in areasonable time, to still allow the personalized souvenirs to beproduced and distributed at the venue by vendors. Thus, certainparameters are preprogrammed into the system 8 or systems. For example,the time for the system 8 or systems to begin taking photos, the firstsector to take a photo of, the sequence of additional sectors to takephotos of, etc. The degree of tilting, panning, raising, lowering,focusing, etc., for each photo is preferably also preprogrammed. Ofcourse, any preprogrammed parameters may be changed or adjusted asneeded, but preferably, an operator will simply initiate thephoto-taking sequence either manually or by a remote command, and thenthe camera system 8 or systems will execute a series of preprogrammedsteps to take clear, in-focus pictures of each sector in relativelyrapid, continuous succession. The sequence at a particular venue shouldremain the same, once the camera system 8 or systems is calibrated forthat venue.

Since the sector boundaries are actually virtual boundaries as describedabove, it is possible, and in fact likely, that some spectator groupscould be split across sectors. Thus, in addition to taking photos ofeach sector, it is desirable to have photos taken that cut across sectorboundaries, to increase the likelihood of a group of spectators being ina single photo. Thus, once the virtual sectors have been defined for aparticular venue, the camera system 8 or systems are programmed to bestepped in increments such that the series of photos will coverindividual sectors, as well as combined sectors cutting across sectorboundaries. The horizontal sector overlap will typically be from 10% to70%, and the vertical overlap will typically be from 1% to 25%,depending on the venue. If the camera system 8 or systems are manuallyoperated, then the operator will adjust accordingly to achievesubstantially the same results as described with the computer-drivencamera system 8 or systems. The photos taken at step 400 c, as justdescribed, are then transferred at step 406 to the central server asdescribed above for steps 402 and 404. In each of these steps, 402, 404,and 406, transfer of the images may require the use of a booster toensure the data is not lost or corrupted during the transfer. This isespecially true of step 406 due to the large volume of data.

Once the data from steps 402, 404, and 406 are loaded into the centralserver, the data is then downloaded at step 410 to individualworkstations. Preferably, there is one workstation for approximatelyevery five-thousand spectators. Thus, at a venue capable of supportingtwenty-thousand spectators, there would be four workstations. Theworkstations are well-known in the art, and may be for example aMacintosh Apple Power PC similar to the central server. The images maybe manipulated at the workstations using common software, for exampleAdobe Photoshop, to properly size, orient, and otherwise edit the imagesto prepare them for the assembly into the final souvenir.

Attached to each workstation is a series of printers, preferably fromone to eight printers per workstation, and more preferably from three toeight, and more preferably from five to eight. The printers are colorcomputer printers or dye-sublimation printers or other similarphotographic-quality printers well-known in the art, for example SonyUP-D8800 printers. After any editing is performed to the images asdescribed above, the images are printed at step 420 directly to paperusing the printers just described.

Still referring to FIG. 4, once the images are printed, they are allcollected and brought together at step 430 to the souvenir assemblysite. The central server and other hardware may or may not be at thesouvenir assembly site, although it is preferred that at least theworkstations and printers are at the site, along with any filmprocessing equipment needed for processing analog type film. Thus, theimages are preferably printed directly at the assembly site. Inaddition, the assembly site is preferably at or near the venue. Once theimages are all at the assembly site, workers, and or computers preparethe final personalized souvenirs at step 440 by selecting the desiredimages and arranging them onto a single frame or support in apredetermined pattern. The images may be separate images combined onto asingle matte or frame, or they may be edited and merged by software intoa single photo-realistic sheet. The images are preferably spaced apartin a predetermined manner so as to fit in a frame or matte with pre-cutwindows.

A typical final souvenir may be arranged as shown in FIG. 6. The framemay be an easel frame as shown in FIG. 6, or a single-piece frame. Thewindows may be cut out and sized for various images, and to correspondto the image-editing software templates such that the edited images willbe properly sized and shaped to fit into the windows. For example, FIG.6 shows cut-out windows 30, 32, and 34 for an event ticket 36, spectatorphoto 38, and an action photo 40 respectively. The size, type, andarrangement of the various images may be altered without departing fromthe present invention. For example, additional images such as team logosmay be placed on the souvenirs. Also, the images may be of a typedescribed in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/607,582, filed onFeb. 27, 1996, in which the images are a composite photograph imagecomprising the live action and background spectators with an enlargedview of the selected spectator superimposed with the composite image. Bycombining the images as described above, a sense of telepresence is thuscreated, because images of the individual spectators are in acollage-like presentation with images of the live action and other itemsindicative of the event.

The final souvenirs are sorted, either manually or by computer. Forexample, software may control which images are sent to whichworkstation, based on the origin of the images. Thus, it will be knownwhich sectors are handled by each workstation. In this way, the vendorsfor specified sectors will know which workstations to collect theirsouvenirs from at step 450, and may then venture out to their assignedsectors and distribute the souvenirs to the spectators at step 460. Thespectators will then have a chance to view the souvenir, and will likelybe able to find themselves in the spectator photo.

During the event, especially at a sporting event with large picturescreens, the spectator images may be displayed along with advertisementsand/or instructions on how to obtain the souvenirs. In addition, oralternatively, there may be video units located throughout the venuewith software that allows the spectators to search for availablespectator photos using simple commands. Even if a spectator fails toobtain a personalized souvenir from the vendor, there may be a walk-upwindow available at the assembly site (which is preferably at the eventvenue) for spectators to obtain them. Thus, when a spectator approachesthe walk-up window, they may either go through various spectator imagesavailable for review, or may simply provide their seating location tothe operator. Once the operator has a seating location, the operator cansearch manually for the proper spectator photo, or the operator mayenter the location data into a computer which is programmed to find theproper spectator photo based on the seat number, etc. For example, adatabase will have each seat number mapped to a specific sector. Thenbased on the starting photo sector, the number of frames-per-secondtaken by the camera system 8 or systems, and the particular system 8used (if more than one was used) to take photos of that sector, theoperator or software can determine which frame from which system 8contains the desired spectator photo. The operator may then locate anexisting souvenir with the desired photo, or if none exists then theoperator may simply prepare a new souvenir with the desired photo byprinting another copy of the desired photo.

If desired, through a separate indexing system similar to that justdescribed, an individual image of a spectator may be manually orautomatically extracted and then used to create an inset cameo showingsubstantially only the spectator. Space for the cameo may exist on aseparate frame from that used for the standard personalized souvenirs,or the cameo may be placed instead of any of the other images in theframe designed for the standard personalized souvenirs.

While specific hardware has been described herein, it is understood thatother hardware well-known in the art may be used without departing fromthe inventive concepts described herein. Similarly, though the presentinvention has been described as taking photos of spectators by takingtheir photos during the event, the present invention will also apply totaking photos of spectators while in line at the event, and thesouvenirs can then be indexed by time, location, or even by a numberknown to the photographer and to the spectators when taking the pictureso that the photographer could convey the information to the spectators.The souvenirs could then be made available at a later time. Thus, whilepreferred embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and have just beendescribed herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatmany modifications can be made to the preferred embodiments withoutdeparting from the inventive concepts described. Accordingly, theinvention is not to be restricted except by the claims, which follow.

1. A method of producing images of spectators within a venue comprisingthe steps of: obtaining images of various views of a venue, said imagesincluding spectators within said venue, said images being obtained by aplurality of hand-carried, manually operated, digital cameras operatedby photographers; transferring and storing into a server said imagesobtained by said photographers; indexing said obtained images accordingto specific identifiers known to said spectators and said photographers;and making said obtained and indexed images available to said spectatorsby identifying at least one of said specific identifiers by which saidobtained images are indexed.
 2. A method as in claim 1 wherein saidspecific identifiers are alphanumeric identifiers known to saidspectators and said photographers.
 3. A method as in claim 1 whereinsaid specific identifiers are associated with locations within saidvenue.
 4. A method as in claim 1 wherein said specific identifiers areassociated with virtual sectors defined within said venue.
 5. A methodas in claim 1 further comprising the step of allowing said spectators toselect an image they desire among the obtained and indexed images.
 6. Amethod as in claim 5 further comprising the step of printing saiddesired image.
 7. A method as in claim 1 wherein the venue is a sportsvenue.
 8. A method as in claim 1 wherein said images are indexed bytime.
 9. A system for enabling images of spectators within a venue to beproduced comprising: a plurality of digital cameras for obtaining imagesof various views of a venue including images of spectators within saidvenue, a plurality of digital cameras being hand-carried and manuallyoperated by photographers; a server into which said images obtained bysaid photographers can be transferred, and by which said obtained imagescan be indexed according to specific identifiers known to saidspectators and said photographers; and at least one viewing unit bywhich the obtained and indexed images can be made available to saidspectators by identifying at least one of said specific identifiers bywhich said images are indexed.
 10. A system as in claim 9 wherein saidserver is located at a first location and said viewing unit is locatedat a second location, remote from said first location.
 11. A system asin claim 9 further comprising a color printer for printing said desiredimage.
 12. A system as in claim 9 wherein said specific identifiers areassociated with locations within said venue.
 13. A system as in claim 9wherein said specific identifiers are associated with virtual sectorswithin said venue.
 14. A system as in claim 9 wherein said specificidentifiers comprise alphanumeric identifiers known to said spectatorsand said photographers.